Forced Competition – Women Unite.

It’s fair to say we, as women, are always competing. Be it at work or in the gym or just walking down the street you feel it, don’t you? That pound-pound-pound of your heart which feels like it’s telling you to be cuter, sexier, smarter, tougher. If you aren’t competing with the other women in your life you’re seemingly competing with yourself. Eat less than yesterday, do ten more squats; you can beat your last record!

Can I just interject here?

I read this amazing quote today but I can’t remember where it was… perhaps it was just in passing on an Instagram account. The jist of it was this: We should feel inspired by the women who came before us.

The idea hit me pretty hard because I, too, feel that struggle to be more than the girl next to me or to strive to look more like the girl on the cover of the magazine. I’m almost thirty and I’m still feeling the strain in the back of my mind despite NOT wanting to.

Every single avenue of life seems to demand that we compete with one another – the media and our general society tells us we must because women struggle with weight and jealousy and other negative things that men are, apparently never subjected to.

Back to the quote – I wish there was more of a sisterhood mentality in the world. I love-love-love my fellow feminists who support and help each other by raising a glass to each others success, however, that mentality isn’t as far reaching as I’d like it to be.

I hear girls trash talk others, still. It’s not even girls, to be fair, it’s women. Women who are falling prey to the competitive standards of society. I don’t blame them and I don’t hate them I just wish they could see how support is much more beneficial than the subjugation of womanhood that’s still portrayed by media outlets to this day.

I am in love with the idea that women would support each other. Every woman who has succeeded before us should be an inspiration; a beacon of hope for hard workers and dreamers. I don’t want to sound all preachy, I mean; YES I have had a shot of tequila tonight and YES I did also glug some into the chilli I made for dinner but the idea still stands firm. We’re all sisters. I just wish we’d act more like it. I’m not saying I’m a saint because I do fall victim to the forced competition but I’m striving to keep away from it as best I can!

Let me know how you feel about it – do you feel the pressure to compete or have you managed to side step the expectations that we should struggle to be better than the next girl (or even yourself)?